OK OK I KNOW ITS A BIT LATE BUT I COULNT LOG ONTO THIS BLOG FOR AGES AS I HAD FORGOT THE PASSWORD AND THEY DIDNT REPLY TO MY MAIL REQUESTING NEW ONE..ALL GOOD NOW TO, SO GETTING BACK TO THE STORY..........

After a crazy trip to the airport in NZ the flight to Oz was somewhat relaxing, we touched down in Cairns and the Captain stated that the weather (at 9am) was 28c and sunny, Jen and I looked at each other and a smile grew from the corner of our mouths, we picked up the bags and set out into the new Country and revelled in the heat and warmth of the place, it was wonderful. Arriving at the backpackers (Caravella) we began to see and feel like the typified backpacker and fitted into the new shoes happily, once the room moved into and AC whacked on we ventured out into Cairns, our 'backpacker' status was only further reinforced with the amount of 'travel and tour' agents dotted every 10 yards and in between them was either a bar or a souvenir shop, we made a basic plan of what we were wanting to do and then searched around for the best deal we could find we booked a dive and then returned back to the Hostel to grab a shower before heading out for some food and some beers. The Hostel had a deal with a bar in town that allowed a free meal in residing with them, we thought this a great offer and so made our way there, it transpired however that every other hostel in Carins also had the same offer and the place was rammed with foreigners jostling for their place in the queue for a meal, still the food was good and plentiful and once eaten we made our way upstairs and had a few more beers, we also started our pool comp tally (at the time of writing Jen is winning 7-5 ), after a few more beers the compere of the bar we were stated that goldfish race was due to begin and a first prize of a bungee jump was on offer, Jen said I should go for it as my knowledge of the inner workings of a goldfish is somewhat superior to hers; although this was true I didn't want to be an egoist and win in front of so many young un's, so said Jen should have a go she picked a goldfish she thought would win and then waited for it to start, a few more beers were had by the time the race was due to start, the compere got set the competition so that each player would race one other in a 'race to the line' the only rule being you could not touch your fish on its journey up the 10ft of water filled tubing, you only had a straw to blow behind it to prompt it to move. Jen won the 1st race hands down, it was all good fun, Jen wins the following 2 races, it was getting serious now, she was into the semi-final and the chance of a free $85 bungee was looking a possibility. In the semi the other fish raced off at the word go looking as if it was going to win before Jens fish had gone anywhere, but then it stopped the 'blower' blew with all they could but 10inches from the finish their fish did not move, but stuck itself to the bottom as if it had ran out of 'swim', Jen looked up and saw this and blew bubbles so close to her fish that it must've thought it was being chased by a tornado, it bolted like a thoroughbred and didn't stop, just like Forrest Gump did sailed past the finish line to the end of the trough and turned round as if making for a lap of honour, this time Jen and I were jumping up and down thinking we now have a 50-50 chance of a free bungee. GET IN.

That's when it went from fun to fear!!! The final race began and both fish set off fast , the other fish again seemingly going to win it, until once again Jens fish made a comeback Rocky would have been proud of, then inches from the line the other fish picks up speed to and both fish cross the line at exactly the same time, a photo finish was called for but judges couldn't decide outright. It was a stalemate, the compere then came up with another competition between Jen and the other girl but again they drew, so the compere called out each other's respective partner and a game was undertaken (*the intricacies of the game are for personal memory only (or unless we blurt it out during drunken questioning!!) there was no splitting the winner in the end and both won the coveted prize of a bungee jump.

In the morning and with a hot and hazy hangover, we took a wander to pick up the campervan, while keeping our stuff at the backpackers and collecting it once we had the van, all this went fine and we decided in the afternoon to spend the day chilling out in lido as it was so hot and we felt a bit rough, we utilised the fantastic facilities at the Lido and had a bbq for dinner and then camped in industrial estate a few miles out of the main town.

In the morning we had a quick breakfast then got sorted for our diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef (with Tusa T6), we did 3 dives in total, although we saw our first green turtle as well as a white tipped shark and giant moray eel we felt that Fiji was a better marine environment as the coral was brighter and more abundant (how spoilt are we eh!!) that evening camped back at industrial estate a little deflated and to a fridge that was not getting cold and half our food spoiled, a return trip to the rental office in the morning was agreed.

After returning back to the rental offices and complaining about the fridge not working it came about that there was not enough charge in the battery to keep the thing working and that the agent told us that it is expected that a piad site is used at least every other night to support the battery life, we argued this point and stated it almost defeated the purpose of hiring a mobile accommodation if you had to remain in a paid site each evening (!!) he tested it and plugged the van into their power for an hour and we saw the fridge come to life, it transpired that they had not pre charged the battery prior to us collecting it from them, though he didn't admit to this discrepancy on their behalf. Anyways, once the fridge issue was sorted, we left the compound and made our way a few miles North to the AJ Hackett Bungee site, Jen went straight up and jumped while I videoed , she came down with petrified screams, then after looking at the video she said she was so terrified that she couldn't scream until she had already bounced once which then quickly turned to elation and laughter, great fun and awesome experience, she picked up her jump t shirt and I showed her the bloodshot eye she received and we set off for Cape Tribulation and a camp ground to where we desperately needed some POWER!!

The next day was spent in and around the rainforests and we walked around Marrja and Dubuji boardwalks which half mangrove swamps and half rainforests. Seeing all the different and raw looking trees, plants and shrubs was great although did feel a little like David Bellamy giving it all the "Oooh, look at all the lovely flora and fauna.

That night we camped at Noah beach which was a booked DOC site, a beautiful but very empty beach due to there being stingers (jellyfish) in the water and crocs on the beach so took a few pictures and returned back to the van….swiftly!

After a quiet evening and good sleep we were to drive back south to Daintree village where we picked up a Canadian hitcher, 'Mike' a 65yr old guy who was on his own backpacking round Oz before meeting his wife in Brisbane a month later, fair play to the old boy. That afternoon we booked a croc trip on Daintree river with 'Bruce Belchers Tours', unfortunately we didn't see any, although we were a bit dismayed it seemed that 'Bruce', was even more so as he had a boat full of tourists and he couldn't spot any, we got the impression he was upset and a little embarrassed of this as he advertised himself and the original Crocodile Dundee sort of bloke, but we still gave him a positive report on trip advisor as although we didn't see any, the trip and hospitality was still great. After leaving Daintree we made our way back closer towards Cairns and this time attempted to see some Koalas at Kuranda village but by the time we got there the place was closing so again we didn't get to see any local wildlife, the day was turning out to be a bit of a wildlife washout so we decided to head back to a supermarket to get some fresh meats for dinner and forget all about the wildlife. On the way out of the car park I failed to see the large white post inches next to the van as I reversed and scraped the side of the van a post supporting the roof, well gutted doesn't cut it and as we got out to have a look, although the damage was minimal it was looking like we were going to lose the $750 deposit. What an end to the 'miss' of a day (at least it was the 3rd thing to happen so touched wood that that was the end of the bad luck run!! jay dinged van on post we decided to put some miles on the clock and get as far South as we could and made it about 200 miles south to a spot called Tully where there was a place you could stop with toilets so we parked up and have a bit of food before turning the lights off on the dismal day and got some shut eye.

We woke bright and early and packed up and set off to do another full days driving, this time to get in 6hrs and 450miles to Airlie Beach where the plan was to spend a few days, we ended up at a Nomads site (a backpackers accommodation and trip supplier in the centre of the town) we sorted a cheap powered spot for $15 a night and went for a look around, we returned back to the van and made a call to a boat that did trips out to the Whitsundays the following day, so after getting ourselves sorted and a trip booked we grabbed some food and bedded down for the night.

Waking at 6am we got our stuff together and set off for the pick-up to the bus to the boat we stepped on-board after a small introduction set off on 'Camira', a 45ft purple, ex racing catamaran on day trip around the Whitsundays it was a great trip on the boat and after a bit of snorkelling we got to the Whitehaven Beach where we all got off and had a wander along the beach, and beautiful it was with snow white sand and turquoises waters and quiet (apart from the 60 or so other tourist on ours and 2 other boats) anyway after about an hour on the sand we were all transferred back to the main boat and then they had laid on a free bbq and FREE BEER, and a lovely sail back to Airlie free. All in all a great day.

The following day we left Airlie Beach and made a long 6hr drive to a roadside rest area near Bundaberg. Though the trip was nicely broken up by a stop at a wildlife sanctuary called 'Billabong' the plan was to 'cuddle a koala' before we got out of Queensland as they don't allow it in New South Wales so this was about 30k from the border. We got there just in time for the koala talk and the photo opportunities and after paying the entrance fee sped our way straight over there, Jens smiles just grew and grew from ear to ear she was beaming as she finally got to have a 'cuddle' and a photo, after that we got to hold bearded dragon and then fed kangaroos which were wandering around freely round the place and very very tame, lots of photos followed and we finally went to see the croc feeding which for me was amazing, seeing the prehistoric beasts jump high out of the water for a piece of meat fed to it on a stick. AMAZING. Once all done we jumped back in the van and headed abck to the tarmac for a few more miles before stopping in our 'rest area' overnight stop. The one thing I must say at this juncture is that the trip South was a hell of a lot further than I had envisaged and the driving at times got a little tedious with miles of miles of tarmac to roll over and miles and miles of nothingness to look at just distance to cover.

The next day, the 14th was another long 6hr day and more miles covered and we ended up at lovely place called Noosa Heads, a small town with big houses with boats parked on their individual jettys at the rear of their propertys, the place was also a bit of a surfing hot spot and everywhere you looked was someone walking along with a surfboard under their arm. After a far too long search for a parking spot we set off for a walk around the headland and through a forest where we spotted a monitor lizard perched up in a tree keeping very still hoping it wasn't gonna get spotted but with eagle eyed cooper on the ground it had no chance, so we took a few pics and let it be. We also treated ourselves to a Domino's pizza that night as just couldn't be bothered to cook and then set off back to the van and out of town a few miles where we were to camp at a rest area off the road called Yamundo, on the way spotting our first 'wild' kangaroos, standing in a field off the main road we took a few snaps before jen got out of the vban and decided to take a few closer ones, she soon made a carful retreat when told that these were wild and would attack using boxing and kicks to protect their young.

After a reasonable nights sleep we then set off in the morning for the Eumundi markets which was a market selling all sorts of tat from clothing to didgeridoos jen bought a dress then when looked around it all we went for a beer in what was the most stereotypical Aussie pub I have ever seen, with rugby and Aussie rules shirts adorning the walls and on the tvs and the obligatory old uns smashed out of their trees propping up the bar, I think even the barmaid was called Shelia!! We couldn't stay do then made a drive through a place called Golden Sands, this was a bit of a ploy obviously to get the tourists to stop cos the sand was evidently grey and not golden at all; we continued south to Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast and camped at a nothingness of a site called military jetty park, again probably a bit of a ploy as there was military in the area at all, unless they were in camouflage, in which case they were very good at it, the place was an obvious local hols spot so we set up our awning on the van and open a few stubbys to fit in then went and did our clothes washing, after hanging it up we spent the afternoon on beach and in the evening had a lovely BBQ amongst the locals doing the same in the beach Barbie areas and watched them play cricket, nice warm sunny Summer evening. When done we tootled off to our camping spot which was a simple car park with toilets and settled for the night.

The next day, the 17th we left our 'carpark' camping spot drove about 30mins down to Brisbane outskirts deliberately arriving early at a rec ground (that did dead cheap camping while there were no shows on) so we could then spend a day going into Brisbane. When we returned back to the van in the evening it transpired that we had won a surfboard we had bid for on eBay, I was elated I couldn't wait to pick it up as it was a good price for what I thought would be a good board to then get rid of as it was a mini mal and they're very much sought after as theyre good all-rounders, after a nights thrilling at the fact I was going to be surfing in Australia very soon, we got up in the morning and when checking emails then read that the seller had replied and had stated that it had been stolen so no sale was possible!! Disgruntled and upset don't quite explain how I felt at that point!!?

We drive off and to be quite honest with you im not sure what we did that day or where we stayed I haven't recorded anything for it, I guess I was pissed off and not interested in the whatevers, although what I can remember is that Jen was up early looking for other decent boards and after finding a good un, the day ended with us making last minute bids and eventually winning it for $215, although it wasn't a mini mal it was still a good price for the board that it was and so in the evening we took a drive down the Gold Coast to pick it up from a guy whose parents were originally from Italy and he iobviously bought a decent board as it was the done thing to do and then discover either he didn't want to surf or the board was to fast for him to learn on and left it sitting in his parents garage for 6 months before selling. Still whatever as it suited me down to a tee and now I had a board and could go SURFING!!

The next 4 days and nights are also a bit of a blur, I hadn't wrote or recorded anything of what we were doing and where we were, what I do know is that I was SURFING, in Australia, mate! A dream of mine from when I was much younger and surfing in Cornwall has now come true, however, when I was surfing in the Cornwall/Devon days I was a whole lot younger, and fitter and could probably last till the end of the day, whereas now after a few hours in the surf I wasn't fit for anything, least remembering to record in this blog what and where we were. So for the purpose of this I will simply say the time from Brisbane to Sydney was one of finding beaches, surfing, eating and sleeping, and how fan'bloody'tastic it was too.

On the 24th we had arrived in Sydney and was now booking into our planned Christmas/ New year break site at a place called Lane Cove on the outskirts of Sydney. The site was pretty big and set up mainly for vans although there were a few tents tucked away at the back. Before we got there though we had gone to a supermarket and bought all of Christmas foods and drinks so by the time that we arrived at the site we could unpack and settle into the festivities. Saying that, although it was warm the weather was a bit miserable with rain clouds looming above and the occasional shower, we tuned the tv in ate some dinner and settled inside the van with a glass of wine hoping and praying that the weather gods would look favourably on us and grant us our dream of a sunny Aussie Christmas day.

We woke in the morning and peeked out of the curtains in the hope our prayers had been answered…..they hadn't and it was raining like it does in Blighty, there wasn't a patch of blue or any hint that it may brighten up, we turned on the tv once our eyes were opened fully and checked the forecast but nope there wasn't going to be the hot and sunny day that we had envisaged when we knew we would be spending it in Oz. Oh well it was still warm and we still had as good a day as we would have had it been sunny apart from the 'on the beach' bit.

Over the next few days we did pretty much nothing and loved doing it, we went to go abnd have a look at Manly beach, which was packed with tourists and locals alike and although the surf was pumping I felt that I would like a bit of a rest from the surfing over the Christmas period ( well that's my excuse anyway and I am sticking to it) (the truth is that I ached like mad and had a rash on my belly after not having a vest from rolling around too much on the wax on the board!!)

On the 30th we met up with two 'great guys' Samie and Colin who we worked with in the USA, both Brits we had planned to spend NYE with them so went over to where they were staying to make some plans and to generally say a hello. On the way back we went to tgo and get some supplies for the next day and scope out the location.

NYE arrived and we set off at about 11am to Birchgrove Park, which was some 5k out of the city but had a great vantage point of the bridge we unloaded and went to go and find Samie and Colin as they had already arrived and bagged us a good spot near the front, after unloading Jay went to go and park the van up as the plan was not to try and get public transport back but utilise the van and sleep in it for the night, with the expectation of needing to park miles away I set off but as I opened the door to the van a local stuck his head around his gate and shouted to me that there was a space right opposite the park I spun the van round asap and got into the spot asking him if it was OK to park there and weather the Police would be onto us, he said it would be fine and he would have thought the Police would prefer us to stay in the van overnight than to try and move it while drunk. Well what a winner that turned out to be not only did I get a spot yards from the park entrance but the bloke in question also offered for me to put the surfboard in his garden as we couldn't have slept in the van with the board in there too and was expecting to have to hide under the van otherwise. What a smashing fella!! So I returned jubilant and began enjoying the festivities which to put it my best Aussie we got truly smashed up on the goon (boxed wine) before the midnight hour came and we all sang and danced and hugged and had a fantastic celebration, oh and there was a few fireworks over a bridge somewhere in the distance at some point too!!

After a good night's kip in the van we went back to the site and then spent the next 24hours recovering and the following 24 hours once we were back to normal was spent planning the S.E Asia part of the trip.

On the 3rd we had to pack up and return 'Jim' (The Van) back to the depot but before this we dropped our stuff off at our new location which was called Lamrock Lodge Backpackers at Bondi Beach. Once set up there we then headed off to the depot to see if we would get our deposit back after the ding to the side made earlier in the trip , we honestly had everything possible crossed as if we to lose it it would seriously dent our finances as it was around to the tune of $750. We arrived and the first thing I did was park the van up as close to the wall as I could on the side where the ding was, this was also in our favour a little as the returns area was at the right hand side of the compound and therefore assisted us in hiding the area of the dint.

The second stroke of luck was that the agent who was working on the returns that day was the same girl that we got the van from in the first place in Cairns (due to the fact that she had relocated down to Sydney) so a conversation was struck up and both myself and Jen made ourselves very interested in her move and what she thought of her time in Cairns and what she so far thought of Sydney including the NYE celebrations as well. This all supported our return very well and she rushed through the paperwork, ticking all the relevant boxes, she then came to go outside and have a look at the van and as stated earlier, with the van parked up with the dint towards the wall it would make it difficult to see if standing close, she took a brief look at the van while we were in mid conversation then when she wandered around to the other side of the van she asked openly "Have you had any accidents or problems", both Jenni and myself both at the same replied almost in harmony "Oh No No No, no nothing at all, all fine", and that was that, she signed the document, we shook hands we left the compound.

We hot footed away from the compound and round the corner and when clear of earshot, we stopped, looked at each other and smiled the biggest ear to ear grin imaginable, we had done it, thank the heavens for that one we both thought.

We returned back to Bondi for a celebratory drink and chilled out getting ourselves acquainted with our new digs.

The next few days were very relaxed with Surfing or /and general beach life goings on, we would eat in the backpackers and use their facilities as the cost of eating out in Bondi as you can probably imagine isn't cheap. Samie and Colin came over a few of the days and on one particular day stayed over as we had planned a few drinks (and some) and reminisced about the Summertime sharing memories and gossips and generally enjoying a good old catch up. We also agreed on one of these evening that we should go and see the sights of Sydney and a day out was had together seeing the harbour bridge and the local areas of interest, I think this evening also panned into one of drunken debauchery too, but hey it was more than one hell of a good time.

Our final day before leaving Oz was spent on the beach (where else) with Samie and Colin and the people that they share their house with and whom we spent NYE with, the weather on this specific day also was an absolute scorcher and one of the hottest on record at 42C not only for us but also Oz as a whole also the surf had settled a little from how big and messy it was earlier in the week and therefore easier to get a ride or learn and a good intro for Samie and Colin too as they had agreed to buy the board off me, we also threw in some cool boxes, freezer blocks a blanket some food and a cuddly toy.

After we said our goodbyes we returned back to the hostel to pack and to prep for the flight the next day to South East Asia and Singapore.